Do All Writers Need a Therapist? Trying to write and publish books can be emotionally and psychologically challenging—have you noticed? 🤣 There’s the fear of failure, the sting of rejection, the panic of writer’s block, the self-doubt of being in the query trenches…or on submission…or in the mushy middle of a difficult draft…or just, you know, in general. And the… View Post
I’ve read a lot this year… It’s November 13th, and so far I have read 43 books in 2025, not including the many books I DNF’d (did not finish). That’s a lot for me, especially since I usually read at night before bed, and I tend to fall asleep pretty quickly (requiring me to re-read pages the next night that… View Post
Free Query Letter Critiques! Did you know I offer the chance for FREE query letter and first page feedback to all my newsletter subscribers? Recently, I gave feedback on an author’s query and first pages. She had been querying for months and receiving nothing but form rejections or no responses. After making the changes I suggested, she got a full… View Post
I met Halli Gomez on Twitter, in a group for YA writers, and eventually I asked her to join my Zoom writers’ circle. Say what you will about social media, but it has its benefits! Halli has written an award-winning YA novel, LIST OF TEN, and her latest YA novel, LOCKED IN, is a hi-lo book, published this summer with… View Post
Why I’m excited to interview Danny Goodman, author of Amerikaland: Say what you will about MFAs, but one of the great things about getting one is that, eventually, some of your classmates publish books, and, sure, you could get all green-eyed about it, but it’s much more fun to be excited. Hey, I KNOW that guy! I used to workshop… View Post